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For Employers

WHY HIRE A YOUTH:

If you are over thirty years old, chances are you worked as a teenager.You gained skills, knowledge, confidence, and a work-ethic through this experience; it was an important part of your growth.Unfortunately, things have changed in recent times.According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 1980, 57% of teens aged 15-19 were employed in some capacity during the summer or school year.By the year 2000, that number had dropped to about 50%.As of today, that figure has been halved; with only 25% of young people able to find jobs.

According to the Center for Labor Market Studies, many things contributed to this drop in teen employment:the slow recovery from the last recession, the lower number of entry-level jobs as the workforce requires more skills, the availability of older workers to fill jobs once populated by teens, and, to a very small extent, adolescents' reduced interest in working.

Many young people face the classic "catch-22" of employment: You can't get a job, because you don't have experience. However, you can't get experience unless you have a job. This is a problem, because teen employment benefits the whole community.Furthermore, there are costs to us as a community, state, and nation when we don’t invest in the career development of our youth in this way. To learn more about research on teen employment and unemployment, click here.